fillet-of-who?

I know I’ve been quick to berate Apple, makers of the iPod, on more than one occasion. But in all honesty, I really don’t feel that bad about it. There is a reason for their arrogance, and again I hate to admit it, but they almost have the right to be arrogant. They are true innovators. Not only do they think outside the box, but their tightly integrated user model makes for solid user experience and allows for greater control and restrictions over the user in the same stroke.

Apples’ greatest strength is their process. I do not believe there to be another company out there that as competently and completely looks at the intended use of a product form a users point of view. From the near over-simplification of the control interface on the iPod to the ease of application installation in OSX, most things really are easier on a Mac.

This setup does have it’s drawbacks. In many cases it assumes a low level of user competency. All of the decisions about nearly everything are made for you. Perfect right? Well no if you want to do something not allowed by their software, such as drag and drop file transfer to an iPod. In this instance, Apple assumes that you will use their iTunes software to organize your music as you are, ostensibly, a disorganized clot who has a mess of improperly labeled and tagged MP3’s in one giant folder. Making this assumption limits the user that does not fit under the middle of the bell curve. The number of this type of user is so limited, however, that they simply aren’t taken into account in the development of the software and hardware.

That being said, having the guts to put out users in and not try to cater to everyone is what makes their products innovative. The blind can’t use visual voice mail, nor can one efficiently dial an iPhone one handed unless you suffer from giantism. However, these caveats are minor in regards to the overall outcome. Another caveat; cost. Apple products are know to be more expensive than a lot of their competitors. The reason should be obvious; it costs money to innovate. Accelerometers and touch screens aren’t cheap, but the outcome of the blended ingredients is always better, just like cooking with fresh ingredients over frozen.

In the end, I respect apple for their forward thinking, audacity and commitment to the user experience.

But that doesn’t mean I like them.

*Disclaimer: My therapist told me I had to say something nice about Apple before I was allowed to be mean and angsty again.*